OMAHA (DTN) -- A group of U.S. senators said in a letter to President Barack Obama on Wednesday that the proposed Clean Water Act rule violates a presidential promise to "cut red tape" and the agency is trying to "obtain de facto land use authority."

The senators' response comes after EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told agriculture journalists in Washington, D.C., this week that the agency isn't making a "land grab" and that the agency is trying to forge better relationships with the agriculture community.

EPA announced the rule in recent weeks and is expected to post it to the federal ...